


Gifts

by Merlin Missy (mtgat)



Category: Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Holidays, Orphans, Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-06 00:06:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1100137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mtgat/pseuds/Merlin%20Missy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wally talks Shayera into helping him with the orphans this year.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gifts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kansas42](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kansas42/gifts).



Shayera kept her sigh internal. "Wally, look, I appreciate what you're trying to do."

Flash zipped out of the room and back again with more gifts. "Not trying to do anything. I just want your help. I swear."

"Right." When it came to subtlety, he was as sneaky as a jackhammer. Yes, Flash had asked her to help deliver the presents for the orphanage. Yes, it was a good deed, and he probably did need the extra hands this year what with the giant donation made three days ago by the Wayne Foundation supplying all the extra toys and clothes for the orphans. Yes, she hadn't any plans for Christmas, since she didn't celebrate and certain other people she might have considered celebrating with once upon a time were likely celebrating with someone else. And yes, she was moping a little and Wally was nothing if not a big-hearted goofball who thought helping out some orphans might coax Shayera out of her holiday funk inspired by all the things that were out of her power to change.

She banished memories of snowballs and bar fights from her mind. "Sure, I'll help."

"Great!" He shoved some horrifically pink boxes into her arms. "Can you wrap these? Please?"

"Yeah. Okay." She grabbed a roll of sticky tape from the pile of used and half-used rolls all over the table, and selected some wrapping paper.

Wally peered over her shoulder as she started cutting paper fitted for the first fashion doll. "Uh, are you sure about the camouflage print wrapping paper for Malibu Betty?"

"I like camo."

"Okay." He zipped out again, then speed-wrapped six presents in the time it took her to cover over Betty's plastic face. Did human girls really play with these things? Growing up on Thanagar, she'd had a small collection of toys: miniature hammers, wooden maces, toy guns, and her favorite toy of all, a stuffed target practice Gordanian dolly which she'd beaten to death in play combat at least a thousand times.

"What's the smile for?"

"Nothing," she said. "Any more to wrap?" There were of course dozens more, and soon she fell into the rhythm of paper and tape, and Wally's constant chatter about the kids who would undo all her hard work tearing apart the paper tomorrow. Perhaps human adults performed this task of some sort of ritual exercise. For a moment, her thoughts drifted to writing up a report about the custom, seconds before she remembered she didn't write those any longer.

"Let's go," she said the moment the last piece of tape had been applied.

"And I thought I was the one who was always in a rush."

"Funny."

"You think so?"

"No."

They took his van to the orphanage, stuffed full with the gifts. Just as she'd expected, many of the children flinched away and hid as soon as they saw her wings emerge. Shayera covered her hurt with a fake smile, as she was teaching herself to do.

Wally covered better, throwing the back of the van open wide. "Kids, guess what Uncle Flash and Aunt Haw...Shayera brought you."

Immediately the children surged up against them, young greed overwhelming any fear they had. Presents were handed out in a bucket-chain of commercialism, passed from hand to hand to reach the bottom of the decorated tree. The adults who assisted at the orphanage stood back, grateful smiles in place as the children eagerly did all the work themselves.

When all the gifts had been removed the from van, a few of the more intrepid orphans climbed into the van, crawling around to search in case an X-Box had accidentally slid between the seats. Wally dragged Shayera into the orphanage to share in some hot cocoa.

She hung back anyway, watching the kids climb all over Flash, and watching him enjoy playing with them. He had a family, she'd been surprised to discover, yet he gave his time to those here who had none. Like her.

The director of the orphanage took a chair beside her. "Thank you for bringing the gifts," she said, stirring her own cocoa before blowing on it and taking a sip.

"You can thank Mr. Wayne. He paid for all this." Which was, she noticed, quite a lot. Bruce dealt with his demons with his checkbook.

"But _you_ brought them. We appreciate the toys and the clothes, don't worry. We'll send Mr. Wayne a nice thank you card. But that," she said, pointing to Flash buried under five kids pretending he was a snow monster, "that's the real gift. The children see you both, see real heroes, coming here and spending time with them like they matter. Kids who end up in this home don't always matter to the system, to other people. They're forgotten. It's nice for them to know they matter to you."

Shayera felt a weird tug in her throat. She drank some cocoa to wash it down. "You're welcome," she said.

Each child got to unwrap one present while the superheroes were there. "It's a Christmas Eve tradition," Wally explained. When one girl unwrapped camouflage-wrapped Malibu Betty as her one Christmas Eve present, her face fell.

"What's wrong?" asked Flash.

"Nothing," said the girl.

Shayera went over to her. "Didn't you want the toy?"

"I thought maybe it'd be bricks or something. Not a doll." She looked at the other toys her friends were opening, but none of them looked willing to trade.

Shayera looked at the torn paper. "Come here." In a few minutes, the leftover paper and tape had made a thin paper camo-printed uniform for Betty. A hook for hanging an ornament on the tree was quickly repurposed as a spear. As Shayera stood back, her new friend took her Special Forces Betty and began attacking invisible enemies with gusto.

Wally jostled Shayera's arm as he watched. "Teaching the kids the important things in life, I see."

"Something like that," Shayera agreed. "Thanks for bringing me here," she said. "I think I needed this."

He rested his head on her shoulder with a happy smile. "Next year, I'm bringing Batman."


End file.
